For the past two years I've been fortunate enough to be involved in Microsoft's Icons of Imaging program (www.microsoft.com/prophoto). And this past week I had an opportunity to join that group on a trip to Iceland, and discovered what a photographer's paradise it is.

It was a ten-day trip, but I joined the group at the mid-point because of a family vacation. All I missed was helicopter flights over glaciers, boat trips into them, face-to-face encounters with puffins, hikes through waterfalls and that sort of thing. Lucky for me, Iceland has even more to offer.

What makes it a photographer's paradise? Well, in addition to the things I mentioned above, the people are open and friendly, English is a common second language for most Icelanders, there's a good road system and most importantly, a massive variety of nature, wildlife and beauty all within a relatively small area with a population of about 300,000 people. And, it's fairly close to the U.S. (about a five hour flight from the east coast) with no visa required (passport, yes).

Of the places I saw, my favorite were the volcanic areas, with large numbers of geothermal features, meaning hot springs, geysers and vents. It's a bit like Yellowstone and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park combined. You're allowed to go nearly anywhere, with the onus on you to take care of yourself (in other words, don't get killed). This means few fences and even fewer people telling you where you can't go and what you can't do.

In addition to all the fabulous photo opportunities, it was a great chance to get to know many of the other Icons. Not all could make the trip (little things like the Olympics conflicted), but those who did included John Shaw, Denis Reggie, Deanne Fitzmaurice, Phil Borges, Colin Finlay, Bambi Cantrell and Matthew Jordan Smith. They're a truly amazing group of photographers (check out their work if you have time), but even better, they're great people. Despite being at the top of their fields, they're a very humble (and fun!) bunch. And we had a wonderful group of hosts from Microsoft to run the trip.

To finish off the visit, our excellent guide Ari arranged for us to meet the President of Iceland. We thought he was kidding at first, but there we were driving up to the official residence. This is a country that's hosted Super-Power summits between the U.S., Russia and others, and the only security for the President is a chain across the road leading to his home. He joked about that, saying "Of course, you can always walk around the chain!" It's a different culture there, and the President is safe living and working in the open. He was the consummate host, spending two hours telling us about his country and giving a tour of his home.

Until now I've always talked about countries like Croatia and Greece, and most of South America as being some of my favorite places to visit and photograph. Now, though, Iceland is at the top of the list. And I can't wait to go back.